The Mena/Polk County Chamber of Commerce welcomed New Vision into their chamber membership with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday, February 12, 2018.

M

ena Regional Health System partnered with N ew Vision, a medically supervised
withdrawal management service, last year to provide a medically supported detox program to the area. “There is a huge need,” said MRHS Administrator Jay Quebedeaux at the program’ s launch. “We think it will do extremely well here.”
The program provides a hospital setting where alcohol or drug addicted persons can
voluntarily admit themselves and receive medical assistance to lessen the symptoms of
withdrawals, which can many times be physically painful. “It’ s a medical issue,” Quebedeaux explained. “It needs to be handled in a hospital setting.” In the program, the
patient would be admitted into the hospital just as anyone else with any other ailment.
Once there, they will be under the supervision of a medical doctor and nursing staff. The
patient’ s stay would last from 3 – 5 days and N ew Vision offers assistance getting into
a continued care recovery program, such as long-term detox, inpatient and outpatient
rehab, an important ‘ next step’ for anyone trying to rehabilitate. It is also easier to be
accepted by a long-term facility if a person has gone through a detox program.
Persons addicted to alcohol, benzoids, or opioids, may qualify for the program and
most insurances, Medicaid, and Medicare will pay for the treatment. MRHS is also an
Oklahoma medical provider, extending their coverage area – there are only two other
N ew Vision programs in Arkansas, one in Van Buren and one in Searcy. According to
ehabs.com, eto ification is the first phase of substance abuse recovery. It involves a
period of time after your last drink that you dedicate to ridding all of the alcohol or toxins
in your body so that you can begin treatment with a clean slate. As detox progresses,
withdrawal symptoms may become life-threatening, so professional medical monitoring is often necessary in many cases of abuse and dependency. Once you are clean,
recovery can begin.”
“That could include Alcoholics Anonymous, counseling, or a long-term rehabilitation
center,” said Quebedeaux. “People are starting to see how important this is,” he added.
“We are excited to have the program.”
The N ew Vision program has been accepting patients since August 29, 2017 and the
program has shown extreme success. For more information, contact Mena Regional
Health System at 479-394-6100.

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